


Soak Up The Sun

by the10amongstthese3s



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: (but not really), Anne is an angel, Comfort, Fluff, I just like cacti, One Shot, Parr is a depressed babey, parrlyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24543685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the10amongstthese3s/pseuds/the10amongstthese3s
Summary: When Catherine Parr begins to spiral - dedicating every waking moment to her writing - it's up to Anne Boleyn to try and free her from her curse before it's too late.
Comments: 28
Kudos: 82





	Soak Up The Sun

We’ve all been guilty of forgetting about the importance of self-care from time to time. Perhaps you left your homework until the very last minute and spent the entire night working on it instead of resting. Maybe you simply couldn’t find the motivation to shower for a few days or weeks.

Looking after ourselves can be surprisingly challenging for some. One of the people that most certainly applied to was Catherine Parr.

Unlike the other queens, who always made time for their family dinners and game nights, Parr had a habit of secluding herself. Her entire life revolved around her studies. For days on end, the woman would lock herself in her room, focusing all her energy into researching and writing.

It was definitely worrying. Honestly, seeing the woman go so long without food and sleep scared the other queens. Most of the time, even if the rest of them couldn’t get through to her, Katherine Howard would find a way to convince her to cuddle up in bed and get some much-needed rest.

Not this time, though.

This time, Parr waved a dismissive hand when Kit spoke. Instead of her usual gentle touch, she slapped the girl’s hand away when it found it’s way to her shoulder.

She didn’t mean to hurt the girl but how could she possibly be expected to concentrate with such a blaring distraction?

That’s right. Kit was nothing more than a distraction. They all were. Five demons sent to keep her from completing her work. Everyone knew her studies were the most important thing. How could they possibly expect her to simply give up? 

When the group made the mistake of confronting her together, as a sort of intervention, they finally felt the true sting of the woman’s bite. Parr didn’t feel loved as they had hoped.

She felt threatened.

The pleas for her to simply relax and allow time for at least a shower translated into Parr’s mind as the women doubting her skill. As they judging her for caring about her work. How did they understand so little? Were they all truly so dim that they saw her as nothing more than some hyper-focused poet?

She was so much more than that. Catherine Parr had a mission; a duty to fulfill. 

The others saw their resurrections as a blessing. An opportunity to tell their stories and let the world know of the true monster their husband was. Parr, though, took this responsibility far more seriously than anyone else. She knew she had to devote her life to her studies with this second chance. To complete all she never got the chance to do in her past life. She would write until her blood turned to ink and her skin to paper. Until her words exceeded all of this earth’s known languages. Until the gods praised her wisdom and the world had no choice but to listen to her words.

But still, the other queens didn’t understand. All they saw was their friend, slowly deteriorating as her life passed her by. A shadow of the girl they once knew.

“Cathy, please just take a nap. Your work isn’t going anywhere,” Aragon pleaded with her goddaughter. 

“I can’t.”

_Why didn’t they understand?_

“Parr, you need to at least eat something,” Cleves sighed. “Jane made some of that soup you li-“

Before Cleves could even finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Parr jumping up from her desk chair and shoving the group out of the room. It wasn’t often that Parr got so irritated. She didn’t realise it then, but it was probably the lack of sleep making her so defensive. 

So delusional.

“You don’t understand! None of you do. I _need_ this!” The woman growled as she ushered them out. “Just leave me alone!” 

And so they did… For a while, at least.

It was Anne Boleyn who dared to enter her room the next day. To Parr’s surprise though, the usually-hyperactive girl was dead silent for once. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the green queen going in and out of the room, but paid her no mind. She had to focus, after all.

When she finally looked up, Parr realised that her bed was made, and the dirty coffee cups that had been keeping her company for god knows how long, were missing. Before she could see anything more though, the girl found herself whimpering and burying her face in her hands as the blinds were opened for the first time in weeks.

The woman was about to yell at Anne for interrupting her when she noticed something strange.

Her windowsill and bookcase were covered in plants. Beautiful little succulents that she didn’t recognise. Before the confusion could even set in though, Anne spoke up with a smile on her face, gesturing to the plants.

“This one’s a watermelon begonia. I call her Anna of Leaves because her leaves are so big and cool.”

“This here is Catherine Palm. An actual palm tree was pretty hard to get in the house, so I settled on a coral cactus seen as I know how much you like ocean stuff!”

_What on earth…_

“Oh, and here’s Jane Seed-more! She’s a mother of thousands. That one’s pretty self-explanatory.”

“Oh, oh! Katherine Ow-ard! She’s a cottonball cactus. Turns out she is _not_ as soft and fluffy as she looks. That sweet little thing has a dark side, I’m telling you!”

For the first time in days, Catherine Parr found herself completely relaxed, giggling at her friend’s awful puns. Jane truly would be proud.

“And, last but not least, is the goat’s horn cactus. Her name’s just Aragon. Seemed fitting,” Anne explained with a wink, making the writer laugh even harder. She really was an odd person but Parr couldn’t complain. It was nice to finally have a reason to smile. To have someone that could spark joy so deep inside with no effort whatsoever.

It wasn’t just the ones she named either. There were pots strewn all over the place, all bursting with colourful little creatures.

“Is there any particular reason that my bedroom has become a greenhouse?” Parr asked with a raised eyebrow, a smirk still firmly planted on her lips.

Now, Anne seemed to grow slightly less confident. 

Perhaps it was a hallucination thanks to her sleep deprivation, but Parr could have sworn she saw the girl blush as she thought through her answer.

“I figured you could use some company, is all. Something living. Maybe they can be your family until you’re ready to be with us lot again,” Anne explained with a shrug, keeping her eyes on the plants. “I know sometimes it can be hard for you to remember that there’s life outside of your work. These guys can be your reminders.”

At that moment, something clicked for Parr. Anne wasn’t attacking her. She wasn’t berating her. All the girl was doing was trying to show that she cared. 

That was all any of them wanted to do.

From that day on, Parr developed a routine. Even if she couldn’t bring herself to leave her bedroom, the woman would muster the energy to open her blinds and let in the sunlight for her plants, watering whichever ones needed it. Thankfully, Anne left a little post-it note by each one to remind her how often they needed watering.

As it turns out, Anne was right. Being surrounded by beauty and life - in addition to the excuse to bask in the sunlight whilst she worked for a change - really did make a difference to Parr’s mentality. Suddenly, the world seemed to move oh so slightly slower around her.

Self-care can come in all different forms. Sometimes, the most you can do is to open your blinds, and that’s okay. It may not be much, but it’s something. Day by day, opening those blinds will become easier, until it turns to family dinners and game nights.

For now, though, Catherine Parr was content with simply letting in the sunlight.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, my loves!! 💚 I hope you're all staying safe! I don't ship any of the queens but if you want to interpret it that way then feel free. I hope you liked it!! Just a reminder to take care of yourselves 🌈🦆


End file.
